Dáil debates
Thursday, 8 February 2024
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Early Childhood Care and Education
3:30 pm
Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an Saincheist seo a thógáil. Is Saincheist fíorthábhachtach í seo mar gheall go bhfuilimid ag breathnú ar chúram oideachais do pháistí óga sa Ghaeltacht. Táim cinnte go bhfuil sé arduithe agam leis an Aire cheana, ar ábhar éagsúil, an tábhacht a bhaineann le cinntiú go bhfuil seirbhísí ar fáil do cheantrachaí Gaeltachta. Is seirbhís luathoideachais atá i gceist anseo. Tá an t-ionad tacaíochta teaghlaigh ar an bhfód ó 2009 agus bhí deacrachtaí éagsúla aige. Tuigim go raibh rudaí nua agus cabhair nó tacaíocht ón Rialtas a bhain le cúram leanaí ach tá an t-ionad anois an-bhuartha go mbeidh air a chuid doirse a dhúnadh ag deireadh na míosa. Ar ndóigh, tá go leor teaghlaigh sa cheantar faoi bhrú uafásach dá bharr mar tá 120 páiste ag freastal ar an seirbhís seo go laethúil agus ní hé seo an chéad uair go raibh ar bhainisteoir an ionaid é a fhágáil. Léiríonn sé arís eile go gcaithfimid breathnú ar an íocaíocht a bhíonn á fáil ag daoine atá ag obair san earnáil seo ar an gcéad dul síos. Chomh maith le sin, caithfimid breathnú ar sheirbhísí sa Ghaeltacht ina iomláine chun a chinntiú go bhfuil an tacaíocht ann do dhaoine a bheith in ann obair sa Ghaeltacht. Más rud é gur ar an luathoideachas atáimid ag caint ar, nó ar an dara leibhéil nó pé rud é, caithfimid a chinntiú go bhfuil an tacaíocht sin ann. Tá sé sin fíorthábhachtach, ach go háirithe má táimid i ndáiríre go bhfuilimid ag iarraidh go mbeadh teaghlaigh óga in ann a gclann a thógáil sa Ghaeltacht. Ar ndóigh, tá deacrachtaí eile ann mar gheall go mbíonn ar na tuismitheoirí taisteal níos faide agus iad ag dul ag obair toisc go bhfuil siad ina gcónaí sa Ghaeltacht.
I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical issue. This relates to an ionad tacaíochta teaghlaigh that has been open since 2009 and specifically deals with children from six months to 12 years of age and early education. I am sure the Minister of State has heard me speak about the issue of making sure that we have services in the Gaeltacht in the Chamber before. It looks like this service will have to close by the end of the month because the manager will be leaving and there are serious difficulties with recruitment. My colleague, Deputy Funchion, has long been raising the issue of ensuring there is adequate pay in the sector. I am fully aware of the things the Government has done in relation to childcare but I am deeply concerned about the impact this is having on the 120 children and their families who are dealing with this particular service every single day and the people working in it. To me, it is also about the services that are needed, whether in early years education or childcare. We see the same issues in secondary education, where it is harder to recruit in these Gaeltacht areas. If we are serious about maintaining the Irish language and people being able to raise these families in these areas, we need to address them. There is a deep concern now. The ionad has been on the go since 2009, but there have been issues continuously with managers having to leave. It is about providing supports for the early education sector.
Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Mairéad Farrell for raising this issue and offering the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister. First of all, tá brón orm a rá nach bhfuil mórán Gaeilge agam agus gur mhaith liom an cheist a fhreagairt as Béarla.
With State funding in early learning and childcare at an all-time high, and set to reach €1.109 billion this year, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Government have demonstrated a strong track record in this policy area. This funding is delivering two years of free preschool education to all children through the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme and supporting record numbers of families to offset the cost of early learning and childcare through the national childcare scheme. The Government acknowledges that many early learning and care childcare services report staffing difficulties in relation to recruitment and retention. A central factor is the level of pay in the sector, which impacts on staff turnover. Recruitment challenges may be compounded in Irish-medium settings, given the need for staff to have Irish language skills as well as meeting sector qualification requirements.
On the issue of pay, it must be stressed that providers of early learning and childcare are private businesses. As the State does not employ staff in these services, the Government does not set wage levels or determine working conditions for staff in the sector. However, there is now, through the independent joint labour committee, JLC, process, a formal mechanism established by which employer and employee representatives can negotiate terms and conditions of employment, including minimum pay rates for different roles in services. The JLC is continuing to meet to discuss possible changes to employment regulation orders first introduced in 2022, and the committee recently published its new draft proposals, indicating a 5% increase in all current minimum rates of pay.
The Government is committed to the continued improvement of pay and conditions for early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners through the provision of public funding to providers via the core funding scheme. In relation to recruitment, Nurturing Skills: The Workforce Plan for Early Learning and Care and School-Age Childcare 2022-2028 aims to strengthen the ongoing process of professionalisation for those working in the sector, to raise the profile of careers in the sector and to support recruitment and retention. The Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, recently established a subgroup of the early learning and childcare stakeholder forum specifically to discuss current staffing pressures and additional measures that may be needed. The subgroup had its first meeting on 13 December and the next meeting is planned for this week. Proposals that may arise from that subgroup will be presented to the Minister for his consideration.
As for supports for the Irish language, the Department of children is currently working on development of a comprehensive plan for Irish language provision in the sector. Core funding, introduced in 2022, offers greater stability and sustainability for providers by substantially increasing the overall investment in the sector, particularly through a supply-side funding approach. It operates alongside the ECCE programme and the national childcare scheme, and provides payment in respect of the number of child places rather than based on child registrations or attendance. This intentional and deliberate differentiation of approach in the new funding model means the core funding element of a service's income is a more stable income source that will not fluctuate year on year. An additional €44 million in core funding for year 3 will support the delivery of a range of enhancements to the scheme to support improved affordability and accessibility for families, improved pay and conditions for the workforce and improved sustainability for providers.
Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Maidir leis an gceist a bheadh agam i ndáiríre, tá sé soiléir go bhfuil cineál géarchéime leis an ionad tacaíochta seo. Léiríonn an t-ainm atá air, “ionad tacaíocht”, agus an téarma “crann taca” go dtugann sé tacaíocht do theaghlaigh sa cheantar ach, má bhreathnaímid ar an nGaeltacht ina iomláine agus ar na príomhsheirbhísí atá ag teastáil agus a gcaithfear a chur ar fáil sna ceantair seo ionas gur féidir le daoine a gcuid teaghlaigh a thógáil iontu, céard go díreach atá an tAire agus an Roinn ag déanamh chun breathnú ar an mbealach trínar féidir tacaíocht a thabhairt agus cén cineál acmhainní gur féidir a thabhairt don earnáil seo sa Ghaeltacht? The issue is coming to a head with regard to the specific early education provider that we are talking about here. It shows what can happen more broadly in Gaeltacht areas in terms of resources. What are the Minister and the Department doing in respect of specific resources for Gaeltacht communities and for Irish language resources in this sector? If we want to be realistic about people being able to raise their families through Irish in the Gaeltacht areas, we need to make sure these basic services are provided. One man contacted me to say that they were so happy to get the place in order that they could raise their children in the Gaeltacht area.
What specifically are the Minister and the Government doing on that?
3:40 pm
Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for her contribution. A number of safety nets are in place to ensure that all services can remain sustainable and are adequately supported, including a case management support system. It is important that I put that on the record. The Department of children oversees the case management process through which the local city or county childcare committee, CCC, and Pobal work together to assess and provide support services for those experiencing difficulties and through which sustainability funding may be granted should the need arise. If any service has viability concerns, it is encouraged to reach out to its local CCC to start availing of these supports.
It is also understood that the service in question has engaged with the Galway CCC and the CCC is available to provide assistance to both the service and the families of children using the service. Staffing pressures in early learning and childcare services are caused primarily by the high level of staff turnover linked to pay and conditions, as I said. As the State is not the employer, it cannot set the pay levels. That is why we have been dealing with the joint labour committee, JLC, process since September 2022. More than 70% of staff in the sector have seen pay increases and the JLC is continuing to meet. The Government and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, continue to support the process through the core funding scheme. I thank the Deputy for her comments and I will pass these directly on to the Minister. As I said, the Galway CCC is available to provide assistance to both the service and the families of children using the particular service.